A cool way to create 2D isometric maps has been found! If you have Neverwinter Nights, it's going to be very easy to create isometric maps. You'll need the NWToolset (Neverwinter Nights module maker) and a screen grabber program (to make screenshots). Just launch NWToolset, make a map you want, then disable all the fog/lighting things, disable the grid, go to the object selection mode to get rid of the green selection area, and then go to the full screen mode (F11). Tweak the camera until you get the isometric look-and-feel (ToEE style). Make some screenshots (to cover your whole map) and then combine them into an image in any program like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. Then, copy & paste your newly created map over a recombined ToEE map image, then split it! There you go! You'll have to make sectors and other things, of course, using ToEEWB. - Agetian
You can zoom in/out to match the ToEE scale. The only problem there is is that NWN displays everything with 'perspective', so it's pretty hard to combine the multiple chunks of a single map (you have to move the part you want to join into the viewport so it matches the perspective of the previous chunk), but I kind of got a grip on it, so it's doable anyway. - Agetian
Another very cool utility to aid in 2D isometric area creation: World Creator v1.5 (go to www.inet2inet.com to download). There is a freeware version available (v1.5) and a commercial one (v2.5), but even the freeware version is enough. The program can create isometric tiles from textures in almost no time, plus it has over 300 textures supplied with it and well over 3200 downloadable ones. Plus, it supports masks so you can create ledges, staircases, and whatnot. A must try for any serious ToEE area maker! - Agetian
